Box-lid holder



(No Model.)

A. D. HOFPMAlI.

BOX LIDIHOLDER.

No. 487,566. Patented Dec. 6, 1892.

IlNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUSTIN D. HOFFMAN, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO THE STANDARD SYNDICATE, OF MINNESOTA.

BOX-LID HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,566, dated December 6, 1892.

Application filed September 27, 1892. Serial No. 447,050. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, AUSTIN D. HOFFMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in BoxLid Holders and Indicating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to produce a simple device which is adapted to be placed upon the lid of a box and operate to hold it in a more or less raised or open position, and which is also adapted to serve as an indicating device, whereby the price of the contents of the box or other information may be displayed.

With this end in Viewit consists ofa piece of metal or other suitable material shaped as will be hereinafter described,which is adapted to be slipped upon the lid of abox in either of several different ways.

In the drawings, wherein two forms of my invention are illustrated, Figure 1 is a plan View of the blank from which the device is made. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the completed device. Fig; 3 is a perspective view of another form of the invention. Figs. 4 and 5 represent the device shown in Fig. 1 applied to a box-lid in two difierent ways. Fig. 6 isa vertical section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4:. Figs. 7 and 8 show the device illustrated in Fig. 3 applied to a box in two different Ways. Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9 9 of Fig. 7.

My invention is particularly intended for use in connection with cigar-boxes, and in the drawings it is shown in combination therewith, such a box being indicated by the letter X.

The lid-holder and indicating device which constitutes my invention is made of metal which is cut into blanks substantially like that shown in Fig. 1, and these are in turn bent to form the completed devices shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The completed article consists of two plates A and B, the former of which I term the upper plate, and the latter the lower plate, which are bent at an angle to each other. The degree of the angle is not essential, although I prefer that it should be slightly greater than a right angle.

To the edges of one of the plates A or B are secured two wing pieces or plates C. These are preferably of substantially-trianangular shape and are bent at an angle to the plate to which they are secured, so that one edge of each wing-piece is parallel to the plate to which it is not secured, forming the slots D D, the sides of which are parallel.

In Fig. 2 the wing pieces or plates 0 are shown as being secured to the lower plate B, and this is the form of my invention which I prefer. In Fig. 3, however, is shown a form in which the wing-pieces are secured to the plate A.

Either one or both of the plates A and B may be provided with suitable indicatingmarks, which designate the price of the contents of the box, their origin, the manufacturer, or any other information which it is desired should be imparted. I

In Fig. 4 is shown the manner in which the device is ordinarily used. When applied as shown in this figure, the lid on of the box X is embraced between the top plate A and the side wings O O, the plate A lying upon the inner face of the lid, while the plate B rests against the outer face of the back of the box and forms a support to hold the lid in an inclined position. When thus used, the indicating-marks are upon the plate A and can be easily seen by a purchaser.

In Fig. 5 I have shown how the device can be used when it is desired to hold the lid open but a slight extent. In such case the holder is applied to the front edge of the lid m, the upper plate A resting upon the top of the 11d. and the lower plate B projecting outward and forward therefrom. It will be seen that when thus applied the device not only serves as a holder for maintaining the lid in a partiallyopened condition and as an indicating device, but also as a handle or catch by which the lid may be further opened, for it will be observed that the lower plate projects outward and forward from the lid beyond the front face of the box. The side wings 0 rest between top of the front edge of the box and the lid :1: and serve to hold the lid open to the extent of their width.

When the side wings O are applied to the upper plate A, the lower plate ordinarily becomes the indicating-plate. In Fig. '7 I have shown such a plate applied to the back of a cigar-box. In this instance the upper edge of the back board of the box is embraced between the lower plate B and the wings O C, while the upper plate A inclines outward and upward in rear of the box and serves as the support against which the lid rests when in an open position. It will be observed that the plate B, on which are the indicating-marks, is below the upper edge of the box, so that it is a less desirable construction than that shown in Fig. 4, for the reason that the indicating-marks cannot be well seen when the box is full.

When the device, constructed as shown in Fig, 3, is applied to the front edge of the box to hold the lid but slightly open, as shown in Fig. 8, the front piece of the box is embraced between the plate A and the wings O C, and the plate A extends upward and inward and forms the support, upon the upper edge of which the lid rests in a slightly-raised position. It will thus be seen that my invention is exceedingly simple in construction, and yet it is capable of a variety of uses, making it a very desirable article.

I do not mean to be understood as describing in this specification all the uses to which the invention can be put, as it is evident that it may be applied to the side of the lid rather than to its front or back edges.

\Vhile metal is the preferred material from which the articles are manufactured, it is evident that they might be made of other material, such as celluloid, from which they could be molded in their completed form.

Having thus described my invention, and without desiring to be limited to the exact construction thereof shown in the drawings, what I claim is 1. A box-lid holder and indicating device consisting of the plates A and B, arranged at an angle to each other, and the side or wing plates 0, secured to the edges of one of the plates, the slots D being between the said wing-plates and the other plate of the device, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described box-lid holder and indicating device, consisting of the plates A and B, arranged at an angle to each other, and the triangular-shaped wing or side plates 0, secured to the edges of the plate A, the upper edges of the wingplates being parallel with the plate A, butseparated therefrom, whereby there are formed the slots D, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUSTIN D. HOFFMAN.

Witnesses:

H. M. FARNAM, E. SIsKRoN. 

